This time, I am going to make it.
It's been about 8 months since I last attempted to
stop drinking myself into
incoherence every night. In my case, that means a couple of
beers, followed by about a bottle of
wine, per day. I know that is nothing compared to some people, who consume the same
volume in
vodka per diem - the old "Ah sonny, I spilled more than you drank" line. For me, it is too much. I refuse to continue to
damage my body and my mind in this manner.
So,
no more. I tried to
quit before and gave up after a few days.
New Year's Resolutions that crashed and burned before long. And most recently, my glowing announcement of
Independence from alcohol on
July 4, 2001, which sadly fizzled out 2 or 3 days later.
No more.
When I attempted this before, I had no
plan, no
guideline, no
fall-back. I am not
religious, so the constant references to God and prayer in the
Alcoholics Anonymous publications don't help my
concentration or
determination one bit. Thankfully, a search on the
Secular Humanism websites pointed me in the direction of a number of non-religious ways to achieve long-term
sobriety. I plan to
node some items related to this in the next few days, in the hopes that it will help other people.
I am now on my 17th consecutive completely
sober day, which means I've made it through 16 more days than on previous attempts.
I feel great. I am more
alert. My thoughts are
clear. I can practically feel my poor abused
liver regenerating. Even though I don't fall asleep (read:
pass out) as easily at night, I enjoy deeper sleep and wake up feeling more
refreshed.
Plans for the near future:
-
Node some
information on
secular recovery methods
- Keep a running
daylog with thoughts and feelings on this process of
detoxification
- Try to stay as focused as I am now.